Is the image of foreigners' crime used to determine the country's migration policy?

• In Event: Criminology of Mobility. Panel 5. Ethnicity and delinquency

Abstract

A negative narrative about migrants is one of the prevailing tendencies in the contemporary world. This serves as a typical defensive mechanism that replaces the search for effective solutions. Therefore, this paper seeks to explore whether and how the phenomenon of foreigners’ crime is used to shape a negative image of migrants and to influence state migration policy. In many countries, including Poland, politicians often justify stricter migration laws by claiming that migrants contribute to rising crime rates or that offenses committed by them are more serious than those committed by the general population.

In this context, two key questions arise. First, is there empirical evidence supporting the claim of a correlation between migration and crime rates? Second, how do narratives concerning public security influence political decisions on migration policy?

To address these questions, I will analyse foreigners’ crime from two perspectives: statistical and political. The first perspective provides a statistical overview of crime among foreigners in Poland in recent years, focusing on its dynamics and structure. The second perspective examines state policy, including statements made by government representatives and subsequent legal changes in migration policy. The findings aim to verify popular claims regarding the impact of migrants on public security and to identify the mechanisms through which the perception of foreign crime may be instrumentally used in public debate and the legislative process.

Author

• Lukasz Wieczorek, University of Warsaw